Bitcoin Core FAQ
Is a Bitcoin Core node required in order to deploy a Lightning node?
No. Lightning Nodes on Voltage use shared Bitcoin Core nodes.
Is it possible to connect my Lightning Node on Voltage to my Voltage bitcoin core node?
No but we are looking at having this available in the future.
Does Voltage have any other reference implementations for bitcoin base layer nodes?
Only Bitcoin Core at this time.
Can I have a testnet Bitcoin Core node?
Mainnet only at this time.
Can I extract data from my bitcoin core node? For example, the chainstate folder.
The files will not be available for download.
Is my bitcoin core node using clearnet or tor?
Both endpoint types are available.
Can I upgrade or downgrade from pruned to full or full to pruned?
No, this would require a resync anyway. Creating a new node of the desired type will become available in minutes instead of days.
Does Voltage also support Electrum Rust Server(electrs)?
We do not yet have a self-service offering for electrs, please contact <email?> to discuss an enterprise solution.
Can I switch to tor or clearnet only?
Only clearnet is available.
Can I manually choose my peers?
Yes. You can do so with normal Bitcoind RPC calls to add and remove peers.
How are peers chosen?
Voltage will seed your Bitcoin Core node with a handful of pre-selected peers.
Do I have full access to bitcoin-cli?
Yes create a new rpc user in your Voltage dashboard and you can access your bitcoin core node remotely through bitcoin-cli (however wallet RPC's will be disabled since Voltage's Bitcoin Core instance does not allow hot wallets)
Is txindex on by default?
Txindex is on by default. If you are running pruned, txindex will not be available.
Can I store funds on my bitcoin core node?
Hot wallet functionality is disabled for security purposes.
Does each node store its own chainstate or is chainstate shared across the Voltage platform?
Each node is fully self-contained, including chainstate.
Do users get to choose their mempool size?
Yes.
Can I run my own instance of mempool.space with my Voltage core node?
Sure, any bitcoind RPC client can be used with your Voltage bitcoind node.
Can I choose the Bitcoin Core version that I want to run?
Yes. We plan on making the latest point releases of several major versions available at any given time. You will be able to choose a version on the dashboard.
What is a Peer?
Your node will connect to other nodes on the network. These other nodes are called peers. Your node will share bitcoin data with your peers, and your peers will share their data with you. This is how the network stays in sync.
Why am I getting "Wallet not unlocked" message over RPC
Since hot wallet functionality is disabled on Voltage's Bitcoin Core deployment all wallet RPC methods will be inaccessible. See the full list of RPC commands here: https://developer.bitcoin.org/reference/rpc/index.htmlīģŋ
